Researching an Agent’s Track Record
Research is the name of the game, whether you’re searching for a contractor to put a new roof on your house or a literary agent to represent your book manuscript. How do you research a contractor? You check references. You make sure the company has experience doing jobs like yours. You verify that there are no outstanding complaints.
Your book deserves the same consideration.
Before sending query, a smart author will carefully research the literary agents they’ve targeted. Aside from the obvious–you should only approach agents who have an interest in the sort of work you’re trying to sell–there’s another compelling reason to verify an agent’s reputation before (rather than after) you submit: you don’t want to wind up fending off the attentions of an incompetent or fraudulent agent.
The Procedure
If you’re assembling a query list from scratch, begin with a solid market resource. This could be one of the many print market guides–such as Writer’s Market (for the US market); Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook or Writer’s Handbook (for the UK market); Canadian Writer’s Market; and Australian Writer’s Marketplace (be sure to use the most recent version). Reliable online resources include AgentQuery, QueryTracker, and the free agent profiles at Publishers Marketplace.
These resources should provide not just agents’ names and addresses, but details about their interests, specialties, and submission requirements, so you can decide if your work and their expertise are a good match. Often, representative recent sales will be listed.
It’s also a good idea to expand your search by picking books you think are similar to yours in subject, theme, genre, and/or style, and finding out who agents them. This can be as simple as looking through the book’s acknowledgments: authors often thank their agents by name. Or you may have to poke around a bit on the internet. A search on the author’s name or the name of the book may bring up the author’s website where their agent is mentioned, or news articles about the author that include their agent’s name.
Once have your query list in hand, you’re ready to do some checking. (Alternatively, you may be looking for info on a single agent or agency after a Twitter pitch event, or a post by a new agent on social media. These steps will work for that too.)
First, look for warnings from other writers or publishing industry watchdog groups. After all, why would you consider an agent who’s been the focus of author complaints? A websearch on the agent’s name may turn up this information, especially if there’s been news coverage or social media chatter (search also on the agency’s name, to make sure it’s not the focus of complaints as well).
An excellent online resource is the Bewares, Recommendations, and Background Check forum at the Absolute Write Water Cooler writers’ community, where writers post their experiences with agents (and others), both good and bad. QueryTracker, which allows comments on its agent listings, is also a good place to check for complaints. You can also email me at Writer Beware, where I track questionable agents and maintain a huge database of documented complaints, the majority of which have not been made public. I’ll let you know what, if anything, I’ve heard.
Next, visit the agent’s website. You’re looking for client lists and information on recent sales (some of this info may already have turned up in your websearch). These are important not just as evidence that the agent is competent and successful, but to double-check that the agent is a good fit for you. Where an agent has sold is a good predictor of where they will sell; if your goal is a Big 5 publisher, for instance, an agent who has sold mostly to smaller presses may not be the best match.
Reputable agents typically prominently provide client and sales information: it’s a form of advertising. Be wary if it isn’t present, and especially if the agent has no website at all.
Often agencies will list their sales without attributing them to specific agents, which makes an individual agent’s track record harder to determine. In that case, some sales info may already have turned up in your websearching, or the agent may have a social media presence where they talk about sales. You can also use Google Books, which allows you to search the text of a large number of digitized books. Type the agent’s name into the search box (use quotes for this search), and if an author has mentioned the agent in his or her acknowledgments (and if the book is included in Google’s database), a listing will come up.
A pricey option is a membership at Publishers Marketplace, which lists sales for hundreds of agents and agencies. A year costs $250, but you can also sign up month-to-month for $25 per month.
Be sure to do further research if you don’t recognize the names of the publishers where the agent claims sales. Questionable agents sometimes list “sales” to vanity or disreputable publishers. There’s also a growing number of marginal agents who specialize in placing clients with small presses that don’t typically work with agents. You don’t need an agent to place a book with a publisher like this.
Other good places to search:
– Agents’ association websites. The USA, UK, and Australia have professional trade groups for agents. To join, agents must prove they’ve made sales, and agree to abide by a code of ethical practice. Some good agents choose not to be members of these organizations, so not finding an agent on the list doesn’t mean s/he isn’t reputable. But membership is a good indication of legitimacy.
– Trade magazines such as Publishers Weekly and The Bookseller, which regularly report on agents and their sales.
– Publisher’s Marketplace, a website where many established agents have detailed listings (as with any online agent listing, use caution: there are a few bad eggs here). As noted above, full membership is pricey, but agents’ listings can be viewed for free.
– QueryTracker, a comprehensive agent (and publisher) listing site that vets the agents it lists. You can search for free, but more information is available for a reasonably-priced membership. Writers can post comments here, which can be useful for further information.
– AgentQuery, another useful online agent listing at a site whose owners are careful about vetting the agents they list.
– Publishers’ catalogs, which list frontlist and backlist books, often include information on agents (for links to catalogs, see below). Not all publishers put their catalogs online, but some do, and they are a treasure trove of information.
If Your Research Fails
What if your research turns up little or nothing?
A new agent may still be chasing clients and sales, and may not yet have much or anything in the way of a searchable track record. If that’s the case, it helps if the agent is part of a successful agency where the more experienced hands can provide mentoring and the agency’s name can open doors. Look also for an appropriate professional background, such as previous positions in the publishing industry or training at a reputable agency. “Literary agent” is not an entry-level job; it’s a skilled profession requiring specialized knowledge and contacts within the publishing industry. People who come to agenting without this kind of experience are at a major disadvantage–which means that, as a client, you will be too.
Of course, it’s also possible that the agent isn’t very good at selling books, or that they’re someone who makes their money from charging fees rather than from placing manuscripts.
If you do decide to query an agent about whom you can’t find much information, proceed with caution–and if the agent offers to represent you, don’t even consider accepting without asking for a list of recent sales. A reputable agent should be willing to respond with concrete, verifiable information (author, book title, and publisher–not just a client list or a string of publishers’ names). An agent who refuses to answer, or chastises you for asking the question, is one you want to avoid.
Resources Mentioned in This Article
The Association of Authors’ Representatives. The professional trade group for US agents. The website hosts a membership roster and the AAR Canon of Ethics.
The Association of Authors’ Agents. The professional trade group for UK agents. Their website hosts a membership roster and the AAA Code of Practice.
The Australian Literary Agents’ Association. The professional trade group for Australian agents. The website includes a membership roster, a Code of Practice, and an extensive list of writers’ resources
Publishers Weekly covers US and international publishing. A prime source for publishing news and information.
The Bookseller offers comprehensive news about the UK publishing market.
Publishers Marketplace is an extensive professional website where many established agents have listings (as usual, though, there are a few bad eggs). You can view the listings without a subscription, but with a subscription you get access to a tremendous amount of news and information about agents, publishers, and recent deals. Membership is pricey–but in my opinion, this is one of the few resources that’s worth the money.
AgentQuery is an agent listing site whose owners are careful about vetting the agents they include (one of the few such listings that Writer Beware recommends).
QueryTracker is a similarly reliable resource.
Writer Beware’s blog supplements the information on the Writer Beware website, offering lively, up-to-the-minute coverage of scams, schemes, and issues of importance for writers.
The Absolute Write Water Cooler’s Bewares, Recommendations, & Background Check forum is a popular online writers’ community where writers discuss agents, publishers, independent editors, and others, and post information and/or warnings.
Google Books allows you to do a text search of the digitized books in Google’s book catalog. Authors’ acknowledgments of their agents may show up here.
Copyright © Victoria Strauss. MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION.